Sweat Equity

The first change is having mortgage lenders implement a so-called “stress test” to all applicants who apply for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment (i.e. high-ratio mortgages) to ensure they can still afford to make their payments if – and when – interest rates rise. The way they’ll do that is, no matter what rate you manage to negotiate with your lender, you’ll have to qualify for a mortgage based on the five-year conventional mortgage rate that the Bank of Canada posts every week. They calculate that rate by using the mode (most common) rate posted by the big six banks. It’s typically higher than the rate a homebuyer would actually pay. As of September 28 it was at 4.64%.

Buyers who put less than 20 per cent down will have to face this test starting on November 30, 2016.

Reining in Mortgage Insurance

The government is also tightening up the rules relating to mortgage insurance for buyers with 20 per cent or less for their down payment. To qualify for this insurance – which is provided by the CMHC or one of two private providers – the home must be owner-occupied, cost less than $1-million, have an amortization period of 25 years or less, and the mortgage applicant has to have a credit score of at least 600. Again, these measures are intended to help ensure that people can afford to keep making their payments when interest rates do inevitably rise.

Tying up Loopholes

When you sell an asset such as stocks or an investment property, you are required to pay what’s called capital gains tax on any earnings (the difference between what you paid for it and what it sold for). The one exception is your “principal residence.” While that generally refers to your house, if you own a cottage and the value of your recreational property has risen significantly more than your city home has, you’re legally allowed to claim the cottage as your “principal residence” – even if you’re only there a few weeks per year. That means you can pay a lower amount of capital gains tax on your house when you sell it. A family is only allowed to make this claim once per year and they must be Canadian residents to do so.

Until now, when you sold your home under the capital gains exemption, there was no requirement to record the sale. Going forward, the Canada Revenue Agency will require you to include details of the sale on your tax return. It appears that the goal here is to curtail house flipping, particularly by foreign owners who do not qualify for the exemption.

One often blamed foreign buyers – the majority of whom are from the Asia/Pacific region – for driving prices higher. Many of these buyers see the city as a safe place to invest their money, rather than a place to actually live. This not only contributed to pricing most first-timers out of the market, but also led to many Vancouver neighbourhoods becoming virtual ghost towns with numerous vacant properties.

In August, the provincial government introduced a 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers and that, finally, seems to have had some effect. Stats released earlier this week show that home sales in the city fell by 33% in September compared to the same month in 2015. While prices continue to rise year over year, the average home price for metro Vancouver last month was down 0.1 per cent from August.

Meanwhile, in Toronto …

Sales and prices continue to rise in Canada’s biggest city, with a detached home now going for an average of $1.29-million, up 23% from last year. There’s still no sign of a slowdown in sight for potential homebuyers in Toronto, who may be patiently waiting for prices to stop climbing before they can finally afford their own property. Whether these new rules will help, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Do you believe these measures will help slow down Canada’s hottest housing markets? Leave us your thoughts in the comments below!

Like anything in this world there’s a positive and negative effect, like the previous poster says, may help that market but it’s going to kill the markets like Alberta and Saskatchewan that over produced housing because now the Supply is drastically way over the Demand. With Oil being so low and over supply of High House Prices in Alberta, the next to go POP will be Alberta now..

These are draconian new laws that target and penalize First Time Buyers. The government is creating a nation of renters, and in so doing is going to drive up the costs of rent as shortages there become more acute as fewer and fewer people can afford to buy. The construction industry will take a hit as new builds will suffer due to fewer buyers. To think prices will come down is absurd as accommodation shortages will escalate going forward, doing the very opposite of what the government is trying to achieve.

What about the effect on the younger families. This does not help them at all. They keep decreasing amortization rates and increasing down payments while the rich get richer. Shame on you government for not thinking this through.

Thank goodness they’re finally doing something!
I think qualifying should be harder. It’s crazy to think rates will stay under 3% for the next 25+ years. They will eventually go up & it’s better to reign in what you can afford @ the outset!
I’m hopeful it finally brings down the prices! They are out of control!

Its good that Canadas banking principles are more conservative than our neighbors down south. This will prevent a similar crash as in 2008 in the states. It will cool Vancouver and Toronto slightly, and the prices in Calgary and Edmonton will drop this Winter. Even though oil has slightly started to rise. Its not enough for energy companies to start investing again and stimulate the economy in Alberta.